Bangkiling (Phyllantus acidus) or Otaheite or Tahitian Gooseberry is used to sour soups and other dishes in some parts of the Visayas. I have heard about it for years, and was aware it was yet another souring agent for sinigang or other sour dishes. But this was the first time I had come across fresh bangkiling, in this case a kilo of it, from the same organic farm that raised the wild strawberries from Kanlaon I featured in the previous post. It is also used in Malay and other Southeast Asian countries, and Robyn of EatingAsia has a nice post where bangkiling is discussed in the comments section. Bangkiling is a tree, and the fruit look a bit like squashed green grapes, but are much firmer and quite sour. Although they carry different “family” names (bangkiling is part of the Euphorbiaceae and kamias is an Oxalidaceae) they seem related or at least similar to the kamias or iba fruit. The trees, leaf structure, texture and consistency of the fruit and sour taste all seem to point to some affinity.

It would seem like a fruit that would travel well, so I am curious why it doesn’t ever seem to make it to Manila markets. I managed to use part of this cache in a paksiw (up next) but I would love to hear how you use the fruit for future experiments… Many thanks!

COMMENTS:

sanojmd
says:

first time to hear and read about this fruit. i’m more familiar with kamias. and i’m wondering can it be dried like kamias to preserve the fruit? what do u think MM? will it retain its sour taste after being dried up???

Aug 4, 2009 | 1:12 pm

terrey
says:

we call this iba in talisay. we use it for “tinula” but i love to eat this straight with salt.

Aug 4, 2009 | 1:18 pm

siopao
says:

Interesting…

I would love to see that preserved in syrup or pickled in brine

Aug 4, 2009 | 1:43 pm

Rose5
says:

yeah with salt..that’s how its sold during my high school days in Sipalay Mine. They put it in a small plastic w/ some salt, sold at 25centavos each.

Aug 4, 2009 | 1:50 pm

May
says:

Hello!

I am from Isabela (Cagayan Valley) and we call this Karamay. They put this in brine and sold with salt or vinegar. This is sold along with rattan fruit – prepared and sold the same way.

This signals summer in our province. :)

Aug 4, 2009 | 1:57 pm

Peach
says:

I’ve tried these in Bangkok. The ones I tried were coated with a mix of sugar, salt and chili. Quite addicting!

I feel my salivary glands working double time…. Would be nice to taste the one from Bangkok, Peach… I think I’ll have my friend bring some from there when she comes home to the Philippines. Do you know the local name for it?

Aug 4, 2009 | 2:55 pm

GayeN
says:

We call these “Karamay” in my hometown in Pangasinan, and it’s quite common in the markets. These are frequently sold pickled in sukang iloko with salt and chili pepper on the side.

One of my friends from high school has a tree in their backyard and her mom sometimes makes these into “champoy” which tastes like prunes actually. I once tasted chutney made from these in a trade fair in Megamall.

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:08 pm

Lurker
says:

It’s Chinese Iba! At least that’s what we called it when we were kids. There was a tree on our school that had loads of Chinese Iba. All you need is a little salt and it’s a great snack. It tastes better than plain Iba. Hehe.

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:08 pm

Monk
says:

Ilocanos are familiar with this fruit. They pickle it in sukang iloko. I used to eat a lot of this at my lola’s house.

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:20 pm

Marichu
says:

GayeN, we call this “karamay,” too, from La Union to Ilocos Sur. I’m not too sure if it’s called by the same name in Ilocos Norte. And, yes, we do pickle this. My mom actually pickled some, they’re in the fridge at the moment (and we’re here in Hawaii, they grow here).
I remember when we were kids, the stalk would be stripped of leaf/leaves and used as a hair curler. I’m a bit fuzzy on how you’re supposed to wind the hair around the stalk since I’ve only had it done to my hair once.
And it might be how the pictures came out, but those still look a little green to me. I like it yellow-er.
Wow, I’ve never thought about using it as a souring agent before. Good to know. Thanks, MM!

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:22 pm

Marichu
says:

sanojd, these are quite small (about the size of cherries, generously) and they have a pit in the center so drying them like kamias might be a futile effort.

When I was growing up, I would see Karamay sold in the sidewalks of Baguio. Maybe it is still sold there today. I remember that the Karamay would be soaked in vinegar and placed in a huge mayonnaise jar. The sidewalk vendor would then place it in a plastic bag. The Karamay is crunchy like a Balingbing but really sour. To balance the sour taste of the Karamay and the vinegar, my friends and I would eat Karamay with a lot of salt and our lips would always turn white.

In the Baguio market, they sell preserved Karamay, which is cooked with sugar.

Until I read your article, I had forgotten about Karamay. Thank you for bringing back childhood memories.

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:42 pm

Peach
says:

Hi Diwata. I don’t know the local name for it but I bought it from one of those street vendors near Jatujak/Chatuchak :-) It was being sold along with other small tart fruit coated with the same stuff. Gosh, how I’d love to eat those again!

Aug 4, 2009 | 3:52 pm

Helen
says:

I didn’t know what these were called, but I’ve eaten these when I was still young, in the 70’s here in Quezon City, My friend had a tree, and it really is very sour. They pickled it in Vinegar and sugar.

karamay! my grandfather had a wife and husband tree (it’s like a papaya with male and female trees) on their backyard in Bataan (original seed/plant was from Isabela) and he would pickle the fruits in a sour,salty,sweet brine.

I also saw one tree in our village in Antipolo, but the house where it was planted got sold off and the new owners probably didn’t know what it was and cut it off :(

Pandora..last time I was in Baguio, Feb 2008, I saw some being sold on the street, but didn’t get to try some

Aug 4, 2009 | 6:24 pm

T19
says:

Karamay! Love it soaked in sukang basi and rock salt. This is one of the highlights of my summers in Isabela.

Aug 4, 2009 | 7:03 pm

Markee
says:

Oh, we use to have a tree in front of our house in sta. mesa that bears this sour fruit. I eat this with lots of salt or vinegar.

Aug 4, 2009 | 7:46 pm

Connie C
says:

Seems like many of us did not escape childhood without having iba. A Chinese neighbor used to have a tree in his yard and the kids would constantly raid it for the fruits. We kids loved it straight or with salt.

Betty Q, that would be a very seedy chutney.

Aug 4, 2009 | 7:49 pm

natie
says:

oh boy—it would be nice if i can make a copy of mom’s thesis about regional souring agents, MM–it was on my bedside table when i was in iloilo few months ago—next time…it had recipes too

Aug 4, 2009 | 8:53 pm

noes
says:

miss this fruit.

Aug 4, 2009 | 9:41 pm

Jelo
says:

Most folks from up north know this fruit as karamay. It’s either soaked with sukang iloko as a side dish to cure satiety or to go with fatty food or pickled with a sweet, salty brine until it becomes a kind of “champoy”. I also encountered this in a thai dessert, ruam mit, their version of halo-halo which uses gata. Made it taste awful actually…

Wow…Tahitian Gooseberry pala ang sosi name nya but I know it as karamay or kar’may in Abra. When in season, my mom and I would pick them from trees along the road. We’ll then put them in a bowl with sukang iloko and rock salt, cover with another bowl and shake the bejeezus out of them until ma-“lulo”. Bruised, I think, is the translation. Lip-puckering perfect!

Lola also makes “pickles” by soaking in heated sukang iloko + sugar + salt. We eat it with smoked river fish or bagoong. =) Yum!

Childhood memories…

Aug 4, 2009 | 11:03 pm

millet
says:

whoooo…the pictures are enough to make my mouth water. every other front yard had this tree when i was growing up. we simply dipped this in salt and ate out of hand. but in thailand, i saw these pickled in jars (some just in brine, sone in a darker-colored liquid). i have heard some bisaya friends call this “caramay”.

Never seen bangkiling in my life and this is the first time. They must be a different variety of gooseberries. To me they look more like tomatillo without the papery husk which is one of the key ingredients in Mexican cuisines. The gooseberries I see at the farmerâ€™s market have a sheer skin where you can see through the flesh and use them a lot in crumbles, clafoutis, pies, jellies and jams and not cheap at all. Yes, they sell them in a cluster stem attached like your pictures if you beat the buyers of big restaurants before they laid their eyes on them. They are seedy like tomatoes and taste like currant to me.

Aug 5, 2009 | 1:15 am

Angela
says:

I’ve made gooseberry jam which turned out quite good; though the gooseberries I used looked different than the one you have posted. I imagine that it would also be good in chutney or tarts.

Aug 5, 2009 | 3:12 am

Will
says:

The name in Puerto Rico is Grocella…….
Rich in antioxidant.Great makin Precerve with sugar……..

Vicky Go: Yes, the ground cherries are delicious! If you want to plant them, go for the variety called Aunt Molly’s…not as big as the variety called Pineaple ( a bit too tart for me but humongous!) Aunt Molly’s ground cherry variety is really sweet but a tad smaller than Pineapple. Do not be tempted to plant like 6 plants in a 4x 4 sq.ft. plot. 2 plants is enough…they really spread their wings! Each year, I have volunteer seedlings emerging all the time. When frost starts to set in, gather all the fruits from the plants. Some will still continue to ripen.

Aug 5, 2009 | 7:20 am

joy
says:

Caramay!!!!! We would shake it of the tree when we were kids, it would be like tiny yellow hailstones raining down. The branches actually break easily- ‘nalaray’ in Ybanag- that is why shaking down the tree is sometimes the preferred method for picking ? the fruit.
And yes, moouth puckering rattan fruit is also something I remember from childhood. =)

It’s really quite amazing how some “backyard” fruits can conjure up such fond and sharp memories, often of lazy childhood afternoons with friends, munching on snacks that were free or easily accessible and sour paired with salt. I love doing these posts because the comments are so candid, so memorable. And thank you for all the different names for this fruit. I loved kamias/iba as a kid, so I am wondering why I never came across this variant before! :)

Our neighbor in Manila has this “karamay” tree which looks like a kamias tree. We also have one in our province but I never was fond of it as it was too sour. I don’t recall also that it was used for cooking like the kamias but I do recall that the only time I saw this was as a preserved but again I regret not trying it out.

Aug 5, 2009 | 10:39 am

ting2
says:

love karamay, my grandma had a huge tree in her yard in cagayan. mmmm, so good with rock salt.

Aug 5, 2009 | 2:01 pm

rose
says:

these are sold on the streets near Burnham park in Bagiuo… they put salt, chili,vinegar sometimes… they call it karamay

Aug 5, 2009 | 3:54 pm

Gener
says:

30 YEARS AGO!! That was the last time i ate this fruit and forgotten and just remembered today! Its a kind of flashback to me during my elementary days. Brined Caramay is what i used to buy during those days at 25 centavos a plastic with salt in it..its refreshing,,,its good to eat after the class…Havent seen them anymore this days while on vacation.

Aug 5, 2009 | 5:25 pm

Odit
says:

like Rose, I’ve seen these pickled in brine and sold on the streets near Burnham Park in Baguio. I thought they would be a good substitute for green olives when cooking Kaldereta.

Aug 5, 2009 | 6:53 pm

Bubut
says:

nangasim ako at naglaway with this karamay or garamay as we call it. we use to have this at our garden. i love this with salt or pickled.

Aug 5, 2009 | 11:13 pm

isagarch
says:

Just thinking about Kamias makes my mouth hurt from over active salivary glands! We used to have a Kamias tree in our San Juan house and no one would eat it raw except me … mmmm! I remember my yaya would candy it somehow, it was soft and sweet and sour! Ouch! My mouth hurts na talaga!

Bubut and Isagarch: Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to taste this. But i figured the dipping salt that I came across a magazine earlier today while waiting for the muffler to get fixed will do justice to this fruit or even kamias. I posted it on the latest paksiw and bangkiling post of MM. If you still have some bangkiling, please do try the dippy-dy- do-da. If I have access to even fresh kamias, I will make the diiping sugar/salt. The only thing I will change is to use chipotle instead of the Thai chilies giving it a smoky hint. Even better is to infuse the lime zest in the sugar first before using. Then you can bottle it and give the dipping thingey to your kapitbahays that they too may enjoy this with kamias !

Aug 6, 2009 | 10:26 am

Debra V
says:

We call this the chinese iba in Cebu. We soak in brine for a few days then add sugar to it, or eat this with salt.

Aug 6, 2009 | 11:13 am

net
says:

Long time lurker here.The picture of the bangkiling brought me out. We had 2 trees in our yard when I was young. We called it camias. The long one we called iba. Mom used to pickle this in brine. Haven’t seen it in 35 years!

Aug 6, 2009 | 12:39 pm

kit
says:

My lolo planted the tree along side with a couple of kamias trees. The fruit is known as kamias bilog in our place. It’s such a great site when the tree has its fruits and loses most of its leaves. It’s like little green grapes dangling on the branches. My lola’s candied kamias bilog was really good.

Aug 6, 2009 | 3:49 pm

atbnorge
says:

Oh, I love this bangkiling. I remember eating them when we had a family reunion at my granduncle’s garden when I was 11 years old. I didn’t know what it was, then. I just thought it was some sort of kamias. And it does taste like gooseberries. I have a gooseberry bush, but it yielded only 7 fruits, boohoohoo… I’ve been walking along my favourite path and there were gooseberries along it—love ’em to the max!!!

Aug 6, 2009 | 6:53 pm

Rubyred
says:

Dear All, I have so thoroughly enjoyed this blog ever since I stumbled upon it a few months back, but am a techie dinosaur so have not attempted to join in the discussion till now. Am now living in Bangkok and I have seen this around. So common for the locals they do not even sell it in the groceries (like singkamas, which I have to go to the local markets for when the urge hits me for singkamas-bagoong sandwich). The local name is mayom, and it is used very much like kamias (iba) for cooking, not really for eating out of hand. I do the latter, which some of my BKKian friends find odd, same with my love for avocados in milk (another fruit which they are not really fond of.. .go figure).

Aug 7, 2009 | 12:36 am

thelma
says:

I’VE NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TASTE BANGKILING.THEY LOOK SO TEMPTING TO EAT WITH SALT…

Aug 7, 2009 | 2:59 am

Good Life
says:

This is karamay, sourand can to a more yellow color.Dip in salt and vinegar. Good old days !!!!

Aug 7, 2009 | 7:22 am

Good Life
says:

Sorry, it is sour and it will turn to a deeper yellow color.

Aug 7, 2009 | 7:24 am

ling
says:

in ilokano, we call this KARAMAY … we don’t mix with sinigang or as pampaasim as we use to say, but we usually eat this raw with salt, or pickled with vinegar, let stand for 2-3 days, and voila, masarap na siya!

Aug 7, 2009 | 8:00 am

dragon
says:

@Rubyred, Thais are not really dairy eaters: cheese, ice cream, milk—its a fairly recent development in their culinary world. BTW: coconut milk/cream is NOT dairy.

Caramay was familiar to both my northern family ties. From Isabela, we would also get this in “champoy” version (not kiamoy). Although my Ilocano bloodline would send us pruned kamias.

Memories of eating pickled at a perya in Ilocos Norte from a paper plate. It did help cut the fat of a lot of the deep fried stuff.

Aug 7, 2009 | 12:35 pm

corrine
says:

yum! yum!what great finds!

Aug 8, 2009 | 12:15 am

izang
says:

i had my first taste of this “karamay” last april during our summer ilocos trip to a friend’s house…

soaked in sukang iloko with salt on the side, while sitting beside the beach with kinilaw na tanigue and ice cold red horse….

Aug 8, 2009 | 10:37 pm

Rubyred
says:

dragon:yup, noticed that about the Thais. Not in love with beef, either.. .The number of Italian restaurants in proportion to other cuisines is considerably higher, but we learned quickly to stay away from the cheese shaker as it will be, more often than not, stale. Most of them do not like richly flavored tomato sauces, BUT they will have ketchup on the side for their pizza and spaghetti. Yes, I do know that about coconut milk/cream. . .we already have our favorite coconut ice cream vendors. . .yum. . .

Aug 9, 2009 | 1:28 am

farrah
says:

wow, marketman! this is karamay which i always ask for whenever i visit my grandparents in cauayan, isabela. i remember my grandfather used to have a karamay tree in his backyard. like the other guys here, i love each ball dipped in a little salt before i pop in my mouth or soak in sukang iloko for a while before i eat them one after the other. didn’t know this is also found and enjoyed in other places in the Philippines.

Aug 9, 2009 | 9:06 pm

edel
says:

OMG! We had an Iba/Karamay tree decades ago in our front yard here in Manila. Unfortunately, it got blown off by a typhoon. We used to ‘buro’ the Iba.. yum-yum! I still have a picture of that tree, with me perched on a branch =D

Aug 10, 2009 | 2:18 pm

geri
says:

i really, really want to buy bangkiling. anyone know of a dealer who can ship to manila?

Aug 11, 2009 | 6:38 pm

emsy
says:

In Zamboanga we call this Kamias Redondo (meaning round Kamias). We eat this one straight up after stealing it from the trees of consenting uncles/aunties. Usually with sugar sweetened soy sauce and maybe some chili. My mom used to put this in a salad with shredded green mangoes, onions, tomatoes and bagoong, but she takes out the hard pit first by scoring the fruit all around, much like the way you take out the stone out of a peach.

wow. the first and last time i tasted this fruit was 20 years ago in Ilocos! I remember trying to snatch some fruits from a tree but got burned as I stood on a pile of ashes from a recently-extinguished “siga”. I hope it finds its way into Manila so I won’t be stuck with the memory of scalded feet. =)

Sep 28, 2009 | 12:08 pm

Marlene
says:

It gives me a nostalgic memory of my childhood like the others. By chance only that I came across this page as I was getting pictures to hang in my dining/kitchen walls and I remember this fruit fondly (I like it yellower). I have missed eating this when I was in UK for 7 years and when my family immigrated to British Columbia,Canada, I found one brined in a bottle from the HenLong in 104th Ave in Surrey (to my delight!).It’s called ” MAYOM” (Malaysian word?). My kids love it as well and sometimes I have to hid a jar for myself only. Mu husband usually serves this on drinking sessions with the boys after having hard liquor/whisky. Pangpamunaw kano (in replace of sour mango). I use to raid this with friends in school and I remember getting reprimanded by my principal as we did it during my Girl Scout days. We use heavy sticks and even our tsinelas to aim a branch heavy laden! And yummy to dip in sukang iloko with salt and chilli!!!!!

Oct 15, 2009 | 1:05 am

Genio K. Talino, Bibiclat
says:

Garamay seems to be an endangered specie now… Does anyone know where can i buy it, i.e the fruit. Like most of the bloggers here…I have had some vivid, nostalgic memories of picking and eating this hard-to-find fruit with my childhood playmates in our barrio… Bibiclat during the mid 60s.

I know you, Boet de Bane… magkalaro tayo. Remember Efren, Lucio, Boy Tungkil, Fred, Embong and Boy Ipe. Tayo ang magkakasamang umaakyat, yumuyugyog at nanunungkit ng mga bunga ng garamay nila Nana Turia( Inang ni Efren). You were always assigned to get the hardest-to-reach bunch of garamay fruits clinging onto the most dangerous branches of the tree. We collectively “quality control” our harvest and sell them to Tata Amas( the very amiable and cheerful father of Jun), who was very generous in paying us much much higher than its market value. Yong mga natirang bunga na medyo Class B, ay siya naman nating pinapapak together with the newly-fresh catch inihaw na bulig(from the sapa), liwalo at lukaok(na huli naman sa ilog).

Those were the days my friend…. we thought it will never end… so goes an old song.

wow we call that bangkiling . i like it with vinegar hmmmm . the taste is sour and good . i have not that here in barcelona . we use to have that in Central , Bais before . same like … iba ….

Aug 9, 2010 | 11:07 pm

Reinaldo
says:

I remember growing up in Puerto Rico, we call it “grosellas”. We usually eat it freshly picked from the trees. But the most delicious way to eat was by putting some (about 1lb.) in a small pot with some sugar and letting it cook on slow fire for a few minutes. It would turn red colored and with the consistency of applesauce. Oh my, so yummy.

Oct 8, 2010 | 11:26 pm

Undomesticgoddess
says:

Hi! Would you know where I can get ground chipotle chile peppers here in manil? Thanks! :)

Nov 5, 2010 | 7:44 pm

warren
says:

Hi,

My family had 3 trees in the philippines (cebu city) we usually ate it straight from the tree with sea salt or pickled it with water, salt and sugar. But another way was to cook it with brown sugar in a pan and it tasted pretty good. The tree grows to about 20 feet or so but the branches are fragile and weak so be careful climbing up the smaller branches for sure.
I do not recall seeing a lot of these fruit in the markets or stores for some reason.

we call this carmay in ilocano. its best tasting when marinated in vinegar, salt and sugar for about 2 days.

May 17, 2011 | 6:04 pm

iktor
says:

The fruit known as Karamay in Ilocos and Bangkiling in the Visayas is called IBA in Batangas. The town of IBAAN in Batangas is named after the Iba Tree which grew
abundantly there, a long time ago. Sadly, only 3 or 4 trees are still standing and only
one is still fruiting once a year. I’m trying to bring back the IBA tree to Ibaan and have
successfully grown 8 young Iba trees from seeds that germinated under the lone fruiting tree. This has been a long process and would like to know an easier way to propagate the tree from the seeds or from cuttings.
I would also welcome recipes using the Iba fruit like pang paksiw, tsampoy, candied or whatever. I only know how to “buro” the mature fruit using sukang iloko and which we enjoyed while watching Komedya in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte when I was a kid.

Thanks.

May 19, 2011 | 2:38 pm

cebuana101
says:

my mother soaks bangkiling in lime overnight and then boils it in sugar. i forgot the ratio, we tried using brown and refine sugar, hhm, both works well, but the sweetness the brown sugar brings is pretty tame… once its done,it tastes somewhat like raisens…